Male Jury

In Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Speech from the Dock”, she says that women should not be brought upon a jury of men for committing a crime that men cannot understand. She says, “women are brought up for certain crimes, crimes which men do not understand- I am thinking especially of infanticide- they are brought before a man judge, before a jury of men, who are called upon to decide whether some poor, hunted woman is guilty of murder or not” (470). This is a strong argument that is relevant even today, and Pankhurst makes a great argument that it is questionable how much merit a decision made by a jury of men on a crime which they do not understand, as Pankhurst puts it, really has. Do you think that Pankhurst would be satisfied by the jury of men becoming more educated on the crime before they show up in court, or do you think she wants them excluded from the case all together? Whichever point you think she is trying to make, do you agree with it?

One Reply to “Male Jury”

  1. I personally believe she is set on the notion of excluding them from the case entirely. Although it is possible to educate men on infanticide, they will always have their mind set (almost like now a days). Especially her tone in the reading, I believe she wants them excluded from the case.

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